Japanese
army plans to add Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle for reconnaissance
duties in 2015

The Japanese
government has planned to add the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle
(UAV) for reconnaissance duties in 2015, local media reported Friday,
August 24, 2013. The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper quoted government officials
as saying that the Ministry of Defense will boost its spending for the
next fiscal year, by adding an additional 200 million yen (2 million U.S.
dollars) to cover the introduction of the UAV in fiscal 2015.

The
ministry will likely deploy the Global Hawk at the United States' Misawa
Air Base in Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan, although other locations
are also being perused, the officials said.

The
UAV will be jointly operated by both the U.S. Air Force and Japan's Air
Self-Defense Force (JASDF) in a bid to beef-up its reconnaissance and
surveillance activities.

The
Northrop Grumman-built Global Hawk can provide a broad overview and systematic
surveillance of as much as 100,000 square km of terrain a day and can
fly at an altitude of 18 km for more than 30 hours.

By
using high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and long-range electro-optical/infrared
(EO/IR) sensors, with long loiter times over target areas, its primary
function is to detect ships and airplanes.

The
new budget request will also include 4 million yen for research into the
possible deployment of an 'early warning' airplane in fiscal 2015, 1.3
billion yen for two amphibious vehicles and 1.5 billion yen for training
equipment, according to the report.

The
additional spending is purportedly building towards the government's plans
to add an amphibious response unit to its Ground Self-Defense Force, in
a bid to bolster its defense capability of what it describes as "remote
islands."